Country superstars, rock and roll veterans and scruffy indie bands might not normally perform for the same crowd, but they’ll find themselves on common ground this weekend, as the Southern Ground Music & Food Festival takes over Nashville’s Riverfront Park for two days of diverse sounds, sights and smells.

The festival, founded and headlined by country hit makers Zac Brown Band, held its inaugural event last year in Charleston, S.C., and is coming to Music City for the first time this weekend. This lineup was handpicked by frontman Zac Brown and reflects the band’s broad taste and penchant for sharing the stage with a variety of acts.

“It’s all just good music, and we like them, and that’s all that really matters,” says band member Clay Cook, who recently moved to Nashville.

“I want to share this with all of you,” an emotional Urban told the Opry crowd. “It’s a long way from (Australia) to this stage, and to stand in this circle is the most phenomenal thing. I tell the Opry this touches me because it says you know where my heart is, but it shows the global popularity of this music.”

Urban was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night by the Opry’s general manager Pete Fisher, and Opry members Trace Adkins and Josh Turner.

“It’s an honor for me to be here,” Adkins said. “I’m the man that gets to say, ‘Keith Urban you are now a member of the Grand Ole Opry.’”

Portions of the show and Urban’s induction were aired live on Great American Country. Over the course of the evening, the telecast included congratulatory messages for Urban from friends and fellow artists including Marty Stuart, John Mayer, and Brad Paisley.

“I hope you get the sense of what everyone has known for a while, that you are as good as the heroes you look up to and you are rightfully taking your place with them,” Mayer said.

Urban was invited to become the Opry’s newest member earlier this month during his third annual We’re All for the Hall benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

It took Hunter Hayes six months to record his self-titled debut album, which is in stores today. That tally includes the solid month he spent on his first single, “Storm Warning.”

“I mean every day, all day,” the 20-year-old says of his time in the studio. “I was there 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. every day. I would go grab food with my friends and then go back to the studio.”

Hayes needed that much time because he not only wrote and sang the material, but also played every instrument on the album — all 32 of them.

“Basically, I followed my demo process born out of necessity and made the record by myself,” he says of the album co-produced by Dann Huff. “That was the only way I could finish songs in my mind, making a demo of them by myself. All of a sudden it became … the way I work.”

You may have seen Jenny Gill share the stage in town over the years with her dad, country star Vince Gill, or singing back-up for stepmom Amy Grant on tour earlier this year. These days, the local singer-songwriter is making music a family affair in a brand-new way. Her husband, Josh Van Valkenburg, is also her drummer, and the pair were previously bandmates in their college funk-rock group, Grand Revue.

The only chance you currently have to sample Gill’s solo material is live, and we’ll say that given her influences (from Bonnie Raitt to India.Arie and John Mayer) and her pedigree, she’s pointing in a promising direction.

We're a couple days late on this, but if you haven't yet checked out Taylor Swift's new video for "The Story of Us," take a look above.

Her streak of creating compelling mini-romance flicks continues, Swift portraying a heartbroken student here who's struggling with a rift between her and the bespectacled object of her affection.

The tune -- rumored to be written about fellow superstar John Mayer, inspired by a run-in at the CMT Music Awards -- comes from Swift's 2010 release, Speak Now. The latest tour behind that set brings her back to Nashville for a sold-out two-night stand at Bridgestone Arena on September 16 and 17. She just hosted a sold-out benefit show at Bridgestone over the weekend -- read our report from Taylor Swift's "Speak Now...Help Now" tornado relief show.

CMT’s Evan Farmer and Today show hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb announced the nominees Wednesday on the NBC morning show.

Crow and Lewis weren't the only traditionally non-country acts CMT roped into the nominee list. Teen pop star Justin Bieber earned a nod for his duet with Rascal Flatts, “That Should Be Me”; rock band Train snagged one for their performance of “A Broken Wing” with Martina McBride on the network’s Crossroads series, John Mayer showing up for his Crossroads teaming with Urban; and soul-pop singer Adele joins the list for her performance of Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” with Darius Rucker on the 2010 CMT Artists of the Year television special.

Fans can vote for their favorite artists online at CMT.com through June 7 to determine the winners.

The CMT Awards will air live at 7 p.m. on June 8 from Nashville. The show's venue and ticket on-sale date are yet to be announced. Check after the jump for the full of nominees.Continue reading →

Click to see a gallery of photos from various music cruises, including Cayamo and Kid Rock's Chillin' the Most cruise (this image of Kid on his cruise in 2010: Will Byington).

On Friday, Jan. 21, Taylor Swift will take the stage for another sold-out concert, this time in Mexico. As usual, her fans will be screaming, and Swift will almost definitely treat them to hits such as “Love Story” and “Back to December.” But this time, after the show, fans won’t have to worry about traffic headaches, though some might find themselves a little seasick. After all, they’ll be on water.

The show, aboard Royal Caribbean’s new Allure of the Seas, will take place while it’s docked in the city of Cozumel. Many other cruise concerts, however, are nonstop, multi-day celebrations for all passengers.

Whether it’s just playing on a docked ship, or performing — and then vacationing — among fans who are out to sea, Swift and a long list of other musicians are taking to music-themed cruises, a growing wave in travel and entertainment choices that features artists emphatically rocking the boat. Acts who have played these venues over the years include John Mayer, Zac Brown Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

And Nashville is playing a leading role. At the helm of many of these cruises is Sixthman, an Atlanta-based music cruise company founded by Nashville native Andy Levine. The company first sailed into uncharted territory with a rock-themed cruise in 2001, and it wrapped up the decade with 27 cruises, 10 in the past year alone. Throughout that time, the cruises have been packed with big Nashville names, including Kid Rock, Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller, as well as a handful of rising independent local artists. The cruise Cayamo, like most of Sixthman’s excursions, will take its passengers from south Florida through scenic spots of the Caribbean.

“We’re trying to be the best in the world at bringing like-minded people together on vacation,” Levine says.Continue reading →